


Distance

by Boomchick



Series: The Trooper Series [7]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, Gift Fic, Happy Birthday Tomo!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 17:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boomchick/pseuds/Boomchick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A phone is a poor substitute for Sephiroth's presence while he's on a mission. At least Cloud has a super-powered mouse to keep him company!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tomowowowo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Tomowowowo).



> Happy birthday to my constant inspiration and the love of my life Tomo! I hope a little bit of Cadet Verse fluff makes you feel loved, darling!

Cloud sighed heavily, staring down at the PHS that sat on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs as he waited. His coffee cup was empty, but he didn’t have the energy to get up and refill it. Not just yet. The phone stayed stubbornly dark. Cloud pressed a button, just to make sure it was still working and he still had reception. It had only been two minutes since he’d pushed the button the last time.

An abrupt scrambling sound cut through the tense silence of waiting that surrounded Cloud. His eyes darted up without the rest of him moving an inch, just in time to watch Sephiroth’s mouse emerge from the ceiling. She had a tangle of wires in her mouth, but considering the way she and Cloud had met, this entrance wasn’t terribly concerning or worrisome. She neatly hopped down onto the nearest bookshelf, and vanished behind the books. Cloud turned his eyes back to his still silent phone, until she reappeared on the other side of the coffee table from him. Then he offered her a small smile.

“Hestia,” he greeted. “Have you been tampering with Shinra equipment again?”

Beady blue eyes met his own, and the white mouse tilted her head, frayed red and black wires still poking out from behind her fine rodent’s teeth. When he held out his hand, though, she lay the tangle of wires in his palm like an offering.

“Found a bug, huh?” Cloud asked her mildly, lifting the little round data-collector. “What have I told you about bothering Tseng’s intelligence network?”

Hestia lifted onto her rear legs, and placed her front paws lightly on Cloud’s fingertips, leaning forward almost eagerly. Cloud watched her whiskers quiver in excitement for a moment, then let a soft laugh escape him.

“That’s right, it gets you a treat. Come on.”

He snagged his coffee cup, called to action by Hestia’s gift, and smiled as she ran up his arm to settle on his shoulder. It was rare she spent any time with him, but with Sephiroth away…

He sighed, even as Hestia nibbled familiarly on his earring. she liked the dangling loop, and had fortunately decided that trying to steal it was ill advised the first time she’d nearly ripped his earring out. These days she just nibbled. It was a sign of how completely he fit in this place—how very obviously it was his home. Only right now it felt incomplete. Like a room without windows or doors.

Being here alone while he waited for Sephiroth to come home was one thing. Being here alone for a week, with another week to come… It was different. But at least Hestia seemed to be enjoying his company.

“Here you go,” Cloud murmured, holding his arm out as a ramp for the mouse as he pulled down her treats. “Almonds for the lady, and coffee for me.”

Hestia eyed his cup as he poured himself a refill, as though she might be interested in trading. Cloud covered the cup with one hand once he’d emptied the pot, shooting her a brief glare of rejection. The last thing he needed was a caffeinated mako-enhanced mouse running amok.

“Guess I’d better not brew another pot,” Cloud muttered to himself, flicking off the coffee machine before the last dregs of coffee could sear in contact with the burner. “I’ll be bouncing off the walls.”

Hestia, with one almond in her mouth and one in each hand, didn’t seem to get the problem with that.

“One more cup of coffee,” Cloud muttered. “Then bed, whether he’s called or not.”

It was a lie and he knew it. Even if he did go to bed, it would be with his phone. Two days with Sephiroth out of phone range was bad enough, even if they’d talked briefly every night before.

“I knew what I was getting into,” Cloud reminded himself quietly as he stirred a little more sugar than he would usually have used into his coffee. “He’s a busy guy. He can’t be at home all the time. And it’s not like I’m just sitting around here feeling sorry for myself. I have work in the morning, so I should really—”

There was an electronic chime in the next room over, and Cloud abandoned his coffee on the counter to sprint towards it. He vaulted the sofa, snatching up his cellphone. One new message. From Sephiroth.

He opened it quickly, and let out a breath as it loaded. His heart was hammering in his chest, eager to let him know the message had gone through. There was no helping the disappointment at the contents of the message, though.

“Cloud, I cannot call tonight, but I am here. If you are free to message, I would like to hear from you.”

“Damn,” Cloud whispered, leaning back on the sofa. Hestia squeaked in protest. Cloud froze halfway through the motion, until she scrambled up onto his shoulder, only using three feet. She still had one almond between her teeth, and one securely held in her left arm. She settled on his shoulder, watching his phone and chewing loudly.

“Sorry Hestia,” he muttered. “He’s not calling tonight. Pity. He’s terrible at texting…”

Still, it was damned good to hear from him, and Cloud wasn’t going to let a little awkwardness stop him from catching up with his boyfriend. Was it even right to call him a boyfriend anymore with Cloud living in his house?

“I’m here,” he typed into the phone. “Are you okay? Is everything going smoothly?”

Then he sat back, carefully this time to allow Hestia time to adjust her position, and waited. He glanced to the wall, where a picture of the two of them with his mother had been placed only last month. Sephiroth still looked horribly awkward—he never turned to face the camera unless instructed to—but he’d finally been smiling in this one. And instead of turning away from the photographer, he’d been turned towards Cloud. It was pretty obvious in the photo what he’d been smiling at.

There were fangirls in the Silver Elite who would have killed to see that soft pleased look on Sephiroth’s face. But no one who’d seen the photo would dream of passing it along to them. After all, they’d gotten the photographer who took the Turk portraits to snap the photo for them. He knew how to keep a secret.

The phone buzzed in his hand, and Cloud pressed the button to open the message instinctively before his eyes even went to the screen.

‘Unharmed.’ The message said. ‘The mission is going much as expected.’

‘Good,’ Cloud typed back. ‘And that’s because you’re a genius.’

He sent it off, then went back and re-read the message, even though it was only a sentence plus a word. He tried to put the words in Sephiroth’s voice—to hear how he would have answered in his mind. Perhaps a touch of exasperation at having his health inquired about? Perhaps with that amused half-smile he reserved for moments when he was asked questions that seemed obvious or unimportant to him? Perhaps all with the warmth he gave Cloud when he was truly touched about being for and cared about?

It was hard to tell, and in writing Sephiroth gave away even less than he betrayed through emotion or tone. Periods and phrasing could only tell Cloud so much.

The phone buzzed. Three sentences this time.

‘One surprise. I did not account for how used to your presence I am. It is disquieting.’

Cloud chewed his lip, stewing over those turns of phrase. Was it a complaint? A compliment? Just a heartless observation, like it seemed to be? He chewed his lip, staring at the screen and wishing they could be chatting vocally, giving him just one more hint to run on…

“How would he say that,” he muttered to himself. “Aside from ‘kind of like an asshole.’ That part’s a given.”

He envisioned Sephiroth talking, the dry tones, and unmoved features, so often appearing dispassionate to the inexperienced eye. Tried to hear the words from him, only Sephiroth had been so much softer recently— so much kinder in general… It fit together after a moment, and Cloud couldn’t help a soft, affectionate sigh.

‘I miss you too,’ he typed, and followed it with a small beating-heart emoticon. Sephiroth didn’t particularly like or understand emoticons, but Cloud was always trying to introduce him to new ways to express himself.

A moment later, not long enough for someone to type, the phone buzzed again. Sephiroth had sent him the thumbs-up icon, and nothing else. Cloud chuckled at the awkward, but obviously positive, reaction to his affection. For a moment there was silence, so Cloud typed to him again.

‘Want to talk about it?’

‘No,’ Sephiroth replied. ‘Tell me about home. How is Hestia?’

‘Found a new bug today. I’d almost think the Turks have been hiding them for her as an enrichment activity.’

‘Thank your stars,’ Sephiroth responded, more quickly now that he seemed to be getting into the swing of the new communication. ‘Otherwise she’d be bored out of her mind. No problems?’

‘It’s lonely.’

‘Same.’

‘Can’t wait to be a First and go with you.’

‘When you’re a First, they’ll be sending you on your own missions.’

‘Ugh. Think I can smuggle you with me?’

A long pause in response, then a short reply.

‘You will need a bigger pack.’

He even followed it with a winking emoji. Cloud let out a short bark of laughter at the joke, grinning and shaking his head. Sephiroth must really have been alright if he was up to making bad jokes.

‘Are you safe for the night?’ He wrote, biting his lip for a moment before sending it. He was worried enough to risk wounding Sephiroth’s pride.

‘Yes. It is cold, but I have sufficient shelter.’

‘Any snow?’

‘Plenty. Want me to bring some home?’

‘Haha.’

‘Was that sarcastic?’

‘Yes, Sephiroth, it was sarcastic.’

There was a long break. Cloud was starting to get worried when Sephiroth finally replied.

‘Cloud, I want to keep talking, but need to go. You have been well? Are staying safe?’

Cloud smiled, warmly. It was a particularly gentle and reluctant departure compared to Sephiroth’s usual ‘I’m leaving now’ style of messaging. Cloud tried to reply quickly, before Sephiroth had to vanish.

‘Everything’s fine here,’ he typed quickly. ‘Hestia can’t wait for you to be home, and neither can I. Get some rest tonight, okay? I love you.’

He flinched as he hit send, second guessing the closing words. It wasn’t unheard of for him to tell Sephiroth his feelings, but it seemed different, all typed out on a phone. He bit his lip, hoping for one more reply before Sephiroth went off to do whatever it was that needed doing at one in the morning in the middle of snowy nowhere.

The phone buzzed once more, and Cloud let out a breath of relief. Halfway through the breath, it choked off into startled, delighted laughter.

Blinking at him from under Sephiroth’s name on his phone was a smiley face with hearts for eyes. Cloud sent a heart in return, but wasn’t surprised when his phone didn’t ring again. He carefully stood, pouring out his stale, cold coffee rather than finishing the final cup and setting Hestia carefully back down in her soft, fluffy home.

“He’ll be home soon,” he soothed, though Hestia seemed less interested in his words and more interested in the cardboard tube that Cloud had left her to chew on. “And then we can both scold him for keeping us waiting.”

But inside, even as Cloud lay down to sleep, he couldn’t move past the mental image swimming behind his eyelids. The thought of Sephiroth staring down at his phone, surrounded by snow and dressed in his battle garb, choosing of all things to send him the emoticon subtitled in the PHS system as ‘in love’ was enough to make Cloud blush himself to sleep.

Sephiroth would be home soon.


End file.
